Amazon, Bedrock Announce Projects Tied to MI Strategic Fund Awards

Share

Amazon will invest $150 million in a new package fulfillment center on the west side of Michigan, the tech giant announced today.

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) said it will lease a 100-acre site in Gaines Township from Steelcase, a Grand Rapids, MI-based furniture maker. A third-party developer will construct the facility.

The Michigan Strategic Fund (MSF), a state government entity that awards tax credits to companies that pledge to invest and create jobs here, today awarded Amazon a $4 million Michigan Business Performance grant for the project. Gaines Township is also providing a 50 percent property tax abatement. Amazon says it will create up to 1,000 full-time jobs as part of the project.

This will be the fourth Michigan fulfillment center for Amazon; the other three are located outside of Detroit in Livonia, Shelby Township, and Romulus. The company has so far invested $420 million in these fulfillment centers, with a commitment to create a total of 4,025 jobs.

Besides Amazon, the other big MSF winner today was Bedrock Management Services, a commercial real estate firm founded by Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert. Bedrock was the inaugural recipient of funding tied to the Transformational Brownfield Plan, created through new legislation last summer and “designed to attract businesses and developers to invest in large, catalytic projects,” according to the state.

Bedrock was awarded a $618 million “multi-layered incentive package” to help offset the costs of construction and renovation projects in Detroit, the biggest of which is the former Hudson’s site on Woodward Avenue. Other projects include adding 11 stories to the Quicken Loans headquarters at One Campus Martius; making improvements and additions to the Book Building and Tower; and building new retail and residential space on Monroe Street.

Bedrock says it will spend a combined $2.15 billion on the projects, which are expected to be completed by 2022. It also plans to create up to 7,738 jobs.

Sarah Schmid Stevenson is the editor of Xconomy Detroit/Ann Arbor. You can reach her at 313-570-9823 or sschmid@xconomy.com. Follow @XconomyDET_AA